Our latest adventure in music was last night. Mom had mentioned that a friend’s husband would be performing Saturday evening in a park. Even though the heat was horrid, we thought it would be fun to get out and picnic. With Carl’s recent surge in musical instrument interest, we thought he would enjoy getting to see the instruments close up.

The performers were the Rich Halley Jazz Ensemble. Many of the performers were very kind and took the time to show Carl their instruments, how they worked and even let him touch them. He was very quiet, taking everything in when they talked to them. When we got back to the blanket he was naming the instruments, expecially when they played.

Carl was also taken with my mom’s friend Betty. He is a little shy of strangers but he really took a shine to her. He shared his food with her and then went to catch grasshoppers. After the evening with Carl, Betty thought the ensemble needed to compose a special piece for the evening in honor of the grasshopper hunt.

For the picnic we had a lemon-pepper roasted chicken from Bales, sourdough bread, cheese, fresh tomatos and cucumber. Mom brought a 2003 Michelle Pinot Noir from White Rose Vinyards. It was very tasty.

The one drawback was the hike to the top of the Butte. Saturday was a very hot, muggy day in Portland. This normally easy hike wasn’t so easy in the hot sun carrying pinic baskets and a toddler. Mom and I then got lost walking down the hill – I should have known better than to follow my mother, she has no sense of direction and can’t remember landmarks.

The site was beautiful. There were a scattering of trees on the butte and lots of wildflowers. On our way down we saw deer grazing. By the end of the concert, the temperature had cooled enough so the walk was nice (other than getting lost).

I found a listing for concerts in the park in Portland. They look like fun, I hope I can take Carl to some more.